


Evacuate Haven

by granolaman



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Haven (Dragon Age)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:28:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22257958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/granolaman/pseuds/granolaman
Summary: I was so stoked about finally saving everyone in In Your Heart Shall Burn that I had to write a fic about it! Implied solavellan but I wouldn't really say it's the focus of the one-shot??
Relationships: Female Inquisitor - Relationship, Female Lavellan/Solas, Lavellan & Solas
Kudos: 6





	Evacuate Haven

Clashes of metal and deafening explosions surround her, surround all of them, but all she can hear is her own ragged breathing, the rhythmic thud of her feet hitting the ground, her heartbeat fast enough that she feels both on the brink of death and the most alive she could be. Haven is on fire, and the flames are hotter than she could have expected, and it steals the air from her lungs as she jumps from stacked wooden pallets through the remnants of a rooftop. Seggrit is calling for help, and as she lands, clumsily, coming dangerously close to breaking an ankle, she sees that he's trapped beneath debris.

There is no self-doubt, no wondering if she's even strong enough to free him. Aria Lavellan does not think, only acts, and grabs the fallen rafter beam, lifting the few inches Seggrit needs to slip out. 

"Go!" The beam has already begun to burn, and so too have her hands, but she doesn't feel it, not yet. A few swings from her greatsword quickly tear through the debris blocking their exit, and she rejoins her comrades. 

"Herald!" Cassandra looks about to scold her for running in there, but is cut off by a shard of red lyrium flying past her. The Horrors have found them, and there are more on the way. A quick glance at Varric, and he nods.

"The tavern," he says, and she's off. Of course, the tavern would have been the most crowded at the time of the assault. How long ago was it that they were celebrating? Twenty minutes? An hour? So quickly had they gone from victorious, unstoppable, to fighting for their lives again.

Aria is a capable warrior, and she hits hard, but her defense has always been a weakness. She leaves herself open to attacks, and now she is faced with dozens of opponents. But she is fast, she is agile, and she can do an incredible amount of damage while weaving through enemies. Running through the small town, she slashes and pummels with her blade and hilt, whatever she can muster in the moment, to keep the templars off of her. In a blur, Flissa is saved, running towards the Chantry. Solas and Cassandra have managed to catch up, and not a moment too soon. Aria shoves her way through burning tables to exit the tavern, and a new assault of enemy soldiers leap over the defenses at them. As she deflects a long-sword blow, she stumbles, takes a slash to her arm, and is momentarily taken out of her battle fugue state.

The charred remains of someone that she may have known is laid in her path. Aria tripped over a human or elf or dwarf that is no longer remotely recognizable, and she suddenly feels the world spin. As her friends fight with every last ounce of their stamina, she stands there, dumbfounded, looking around her. The corpses litter the small town, burned or bled out or in the process of dying. A strand of dark hair falls from her braid, having come loose from the commotion. Without thinking, out of habit, she tucks it behind a pointed ear. The motion takes her back, in the flash of a memory a world away, to hunting with her sister for the clan only a year ago. She was so certain back then, so unapologetic and bold and profoundly enthralled by world around her. The thought had never entered her mind that she could be both the cause of so much destruction, and yet the people's only hope as well.

In the distance, there is a shout for help, possibly from the apothecary, and again, there is only her breath, her footsteps, her heartbeat. Vaguely, she hears Solas shout her name, but she ignores him. If there is someone she may still save, she will save them.

\---

Solas turned, having just frozen the opponents nearest to him, to check in on the Herald, and saw her running off yet again.

"Aria, wait!" he yells after her, but it is no use. Between the flames and the battle and her own stubborness, it would have been a miracle if she had so much as glanced backwards. As it stood, she did not. He watches, and throws up a barrier around her, as she darts through enemies to reach... the apothecary. Through the flames, he thought he could see her digging through rubble, searching for-

A sudden movement in his periphery brings him back to his own predicament as a foot soldier closes in on him. Angry to have been caught off guard, he conjures a fireball and watches as the templar burns to death. Lavellan was so incredibly focused, so serious about rescuing everyone they could, it was almost impossible to look away as she threw herself into danger time and time again. Even the merchant that called her "knife-ear" behind her back. She was, from what he had seen, truly selfless, and he could not ignore the effect she had on him.

His staff swings, a fluid motion, an extension of his body, and before templars can close in on him, he throws up a wall of ice, impaling a few in the process. When he had first met Aria, he had thought her just like every other dalish elf he had encountered. She was relatively quick to anger, she knew nothing of the people, and worst of all, she was proud. It was unbearable to see himself reflected in others. Then, in the Hinterlands, they had spent weeks helping refugees, evicting bandits, hunting down lost livestock, and he saw glimpses of a kind, compassionate spirit that she desperately tried to keep hidden.

"Solas, barrier!" He hears Aria shout from behind him and turns to see her and Minaeve supporting Adan, limping away from the burning ruins. He has a barrier around them before even a few seconds have passed, and Minaeve and Adan separate from Aria to run towards the Chantry. Aria returns to the fight, cleaving through foot soldiers that had been advancing on him, and he cannot help but admire her. She fights with brutal grace and immense strength, and yet, still her eyes are on the scholar and alchemist, ensuring that they make it inside safely. Perhaps there is some hope for this Inquisition, after all.


End file.
